Lexington Broadcast Services Company

LBS was originally a unit of Grey Advertising, in order to develop products that were marketed for syndication. Some of the first products that were made were Not for Women Only, which was produced by WNBC-TV in New York City, and Hot Fudge, which was produced by then-ABC O&O WXYZ-TV in Detroit. Siegel was moved from Grey Advertising's president in order to become head of Lexington Broadcast Services Company. In 1977, it launched its first breakout hit for the company, Sha Na Na, for syndication, with advertising on a barter basis.

In December 1982, it secured a licensing agreement with Columbia Pictures Television to bring the ABC drama Family to off-network syndication on a barter basis; this would begin in September 1983. The success of Family led to the formation of the Colex Enterprises joint venture (as mentioned below). In 1986, it launched a syndicated block with DIC Entertainment and Mattel, Kideo TV. That year, DIC and LBS formed the Family Theater package of eight animated specials, and decided that DIC and LBS would team up with Columbia Pictures Television to produce a live-action Dennis the Menace feature film.

In 1985, LBS, DIC Enterprises and Karl/Lorimar Home Video set up a home video distribution venture, Kideo Video, which released titles from LBS' Kideo catalog, through which, by 1986, LBS planned to release titles for the videocassette market, and it gained programming rights for 200 Kideo titles. By 1987, LBS had to market beauty videocassettes due to the underperforming expectations of the initial Kideo videocassettes, and sponsored made-for-TV specials would not be included in its initial deal.

In June 1987, DIC and LBS settled their lawsuits regarding Kideo Video amicably out of court, due to the cross complaints that stemmed from the home video label beginning in 1985. The settlement allowed Lorimar Home Video to continue distributing for the home video market certain kids' animated programs, and called for LBS and DIC to have the right to enter into separate home video agreements independently of each other. In addition, the rights of one of the companies could be independent of each other, and also independent of Lorimar Home Video, and the issue of a joint account that LBS was managing and allegedly was being trafficked in and out of the Cayman Islands was raised. It was revealed that there was wrongdoing in the $250 million account co-owned by LBS.

In late July 1987, LBS Communications, on behalf of Westgate Entertainment, began marketing a $3 million, two-hour barter syndicated special on the Titanic; at the time, Westgate held exclusive rights to the taped footage of the attacks. The company had to feed the special to an ad-hoc network of TV stations on October 28, and at least 30 minutes of the two-hour special would be from Monte Carlo. It was decided that LBS would sell the telecast as part of a four-special barter package.

The company was known for distributing programs from DIC Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Television (including select material from the latter's predecessor Screen Gems). At the time, it and the latter operated a joint venture called Colex Enterprises. LBS also distributed the 1991 syndicated re-launch of Baywatch and was also known for distributing Elia Kazan-directed films originally released from 1945 to 1976. That year, LBS Communications boosted its distribution arm to allow stations to broadcast syndicated TV productions from outside production companies, and Paul Siegel would take over as president of the LBS Entertainment division. He had plans for advertising with Paramount Domestic Television and Coca-Cola Telecommunications, but the company then found itself in the cold, and the alternatives failed to materialize due to a management buyout of the company from Grey Advertising by Marvin Davis, who was a former owner of the 20th Century-Fox film studio.

Around the time that LBS' partnership with Columbia Pictures Television was winding down, LBS began to lose money, and in December 1991, LBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a result, the company ended up having to sell between 80 and 85 percent of its assets to its Baywatch distributor partner, the Scotti Brothers' All American Television.

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